Chargers to open at home vs. Bears

The Chargers will open the 2007 season with a nationally
televised home game against the Chicago Bears, the NFL announced
Monday.

The Sept. 9 contest against the Super Bowl runners-up is part of
what the NFL calls its "2007 Kickoff Weekend." The Chargers-Bears
game will be televised nationally by Fox at 1:15 p.m.

The Chargers posted an NFL-best 14-2 record last season before
losing to New England in their first playoff game. The Bears went
13-3 and advanced to the Super Bowl where they lost to the
Indianapolis Colts.

The first game of the NFL season is Thursday, Sept. 6 on NBC
between the Colts and the visiting New Orleans Saints. Other
opening-week nationally televised contests are NBC's Sunday night
telecast of the New York Giants visiting Dallas, and a Monday night
ESPN doubleheader featuring Baltimore at Cincinnati and Arizona
visiting San Francisco.

The league also announced its three nationally televised
Thanksgiving Day games. Green Bay plays at Detroit on Fox; the New
York Giants visit Dallas on CBS and Indianapolis play at Atlanta on
the NFL Network.

The dates of the Chargers' other 2007 games will be announced
early next month. The Chargers will play home-and-road game with
divisional rivals Denver, Kansas City and Oakland; host Baltimore,
Detroit, Houston and Indianapolis; and play road games at Green
Bay, Jacksonville, Minnesota, New England and Tennessee.

In other news, the Chargers received additional 2007 draft picks
in the third and fifth rounds Monday as compensation for free
agents they lost following the 2005 season. The third-round pick
(96th overall) was the highest compensatory selection awarded any
team for the upcoming draft.